From 6a2a6eb0ac62a0090b274ae7a26cc1df996d5523 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Roland Walker <walker@pobox.com>
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2026 08:49:08 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] better handle arguments to "system cd"

 * Use shlex.split to handle quoted or backslash-escaped arguments
   correctly.  Previously the directory argument had to be a single
   word.
 * Use os.getcwd() instead of executing external "pwd".
 * Improve error messages.
---
 changelog.md                    |  1 +
 mycli/packages/special/utils.py | 23 +++++++++++++++++------
 test/test_sqlexecute.py         | 27 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 3 files changed, 44 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index 9fc4f094..496cf134 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ Features
 Bug Fixes
 ---------
 * Let interactive changes to the prompt format respect dynamically-computed values.
+* Better handle arguments to `system cd`.
 
 
 1.56.0 (2026/02/23)
diff --git a/mycli/packages/special/utils.py b/mycli/packages/special/utils.py
index eedec11e..88002a89 100644
--- a/mycli/packages/special/utils.py
+++ b/mycli/packages/special/utils.py
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 import logging
 import os
-import subprocess
+import shlex
 
+import click
 import pymysql
 from pymysql.cursors import Cursor
 
+from mycli.compat import WIN
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 CACHED_SSL_VERSION: dict[tuple, str | None] = {}
@@ -13,13 +16,21 @@
 def handle_cd_command(arg: str) -> tuple[bool, str | None]:
     """Handles a `cd` shell command by calling python's os.chdir."""
     CD_CMD = "cd"
-    tokens = arg.split(CD_CMD + " ")
-    directory = tokens[-1] if len(tokens) > 1 else None
-    if not directory:
-        return False, "No folder name was provided."
+    tokens: list[str] = []
+    try:
+        tokens = shlex.split(arg, posix=not WIN)
+    except ValueError:
+        return False, 'Cannot parse cd command.'
+    if not tokens:
+        return False, 'Not a cd command.'
+    if not tokens[0].lower() == CD_CMD:
+        return False, 'Not a cd command.'
+    if len(tokens) != 2:
+        return False, 'Exactly one directory name must be provided.'
+    directory = tokens[1]
     try:
         os.chdir(directory)
-        subprocess.call(["pwd"])
+        click.echo(os.getcwd(), err=True)
         return True, None
     except OSError as e:
         return False, e.strerror
diff --git a/test/test_sqlexecute.py b/test/test_sqlexecute.py
index 9abe3b22..301e14be 100644
--- a/test/test_sqlexecute.py
+++ b/test/test_sqlexecute.py
@@ -222,7 +222,32 @@ def test_special_command(executor):
 @dbtest
 def test_cd_command_without_a_folder_name(executor):
     results = run(executor, "system cd")
-    assert_result_equal(results, status="No folder name was provided.")
+    assert_result_equal(results, status="Exactly one directory name must be provided.")
+
+
+@dbtest
+def test_cd_command_with_one_nonexistent_folder_name(executor):
+    results = run(executor, 'system cd nonexistent_folder_name')
+    assert_result_equal(results, status='No such file or directory')
+
+
+@dbtest
+def test_cd_command_with_one_real_folder_name(executor):
+    results = run(executor, 'system cd screenshots')
+    # todo would be better to capture stderr but there was a problem with capsys
+    assert results[0]['status'] == ''
+
+
+@dbtest
+def test_cd_command_with_two_folder_names(executor):
+    results = run(executor, "system cd one two")
+    assert_result_equal(results, status='Exactly one directory name must be provided.')
+
+
+@dbtest
+def test_cd_command_unbalanced(executor):
+    results = run(executor, "system cd 'one")
+    assert_result_equal(results, status='Cannot parse cd command.')
 
 
 @dbtest